I also heard recently that Rohm bought Kionix to round out its sensor line, taking on sensor big dogs ST and Bosch. Batteries and sensors are both great components for the next big waves in electronics.

@DrQuine: The need is for power in excess of 1,000 watts (ideally 7,000 watts is needed to run a house). As a dedicated home solar power generator, I agree with this statement.

In the perfect world and at an affordable price, I woud like to store my surplus energy in other than lead acid batteries, if i could split H 2 O with electricty to O2 and H2 and use it in a fuel cell during nill geneating hours then I would be a happy bunny.

As it stands now I dump any surplas electricity into the hot water tank, which is best suited to solar water panel heating.

As you said, CaH2 making process is frustrating. if people can make CaH2 with recycable energy, it will be a little bit better in terms of energy efficiency.

And yes, CaH2 can be in power form, but it strongly reacts with wate to release hydrogen which is very difficult to control. We coating that with special martiral to keep it release hydrogen gradually and keep it safe to use.

There certainly is a need for clean, inexpensive, portable emergency backup power. The need, however, is not to charge SmartPhones (which can be charged in a car or run off a small battery) or run 5 Watt LED lights which run for a long time on a battery. Small amounts of backup power (as 12 volts or inverted to 120 volts AC) can also be obtained from the cigarette lighter in a car. We do so every time we have a power failure at home. The need is for power in excess of 1,000 watts (ideally 7,000 watts is needed to run a house) that can run refrigerators (the start-up current is substantial), home heating systems, and the like. Only an emergency backup system with such power levels will have a substantial market.

Right, but that's like all fuel cells. The "no CO2" showing on the right is a little disingenuous, since you'll be creating CO2, more than likely, in the making of this CaH2 fuel.

That gray block on the left of your graphic is where the CaH2 fuel has water added to it, to make the H2 for the fuel cell. The chemical reactions I posted previously are what is needed to make that CaH2 fuel to begin with.

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